Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo Purchases 9,247,081 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo purchased 9,247,081 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $62.07 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.38. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.38 and a 1-year high of $62.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 1.32.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 59.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group began coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,781,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,215,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $199,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after buying an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.